Cannon Lover's Thread

[snoseek]

Maybe I'm soft but I genuinely wonder you pro 'stay out of lodge' folks have been to cannon much. Through luck or bad luck I've probably skied more than 2000 days at Cannon, 1/2 the time its blowing sideways, rain/snow/ice or whatever else the notch weather can offer. More days than not, I will change clothes, goggles, socks during the day. I come in the lodge because its WARM, I'd like my stuff to be warm and certainly my pb&*J not to freeze.
Like my other post says, I thought the lodge was built for skiers & I personally have not experienced the 'personal shithole locker room situation that others have.

I learned on cannon as a kid and have sporadically held a pass for decades. They sell me a pass for under 300 dollars and run decently enough. This year has been a little off but the little details like bags don't bother me. 2 trails off the top do.

Place ran beautifully the past couple years...last year in particular. They were quick to get acres open and started blowing weeks before the competition and opened strong. This year not so much but for the money I'm still a happy customer.

 

[cdskier]

I have no issues with ski areas offering free cubbies/bag storage inside (note I didn't say actual "lockers" as if it actually locks, I'm fine with charging for that). Also don't see why anyone would be bothered if a ski area offers free bag storage locations or would argue that they shouldn't offer those. I do have an issue with people leaving their bags all over the place and a free bag storage area is a perfect solution. A time limit on being in the lodge is also weird. I would understand telling people they can't reserve an entire table, but to tell someone they can't sit for as long as they want in a single seat while another family member/friend is out skiing is strange.

 

[Smellytele]

Cannon had plenty of free cubbies/shelving pre covid. People for the most part used them and didn’t leave shit out under/on tables.

 

[Duke61]

lol what? You’re challenging me to a fight because I think it’s shitty to leave your bag under a lunch table. Get a grip loonie toons.

All these new member “you don’t know squat about cannon/magic” types are such little cuties.

And again, you miss the point. I don’t pay for lockers because I use my car. That’s the free default. If you want special privileges, pay for them

No Dude, I'm saying come and ski with me, lets rip it up and be friends. I'm saying I'm an old guy with decades of skiing mostly Cannon and I will stand by my opinion of whats happening here. When we ski together I can listen to your experiences and maybe learn something!

 

[Duke61]

So Cannon lovers....did you notice we have no beginner terrain open and no plan to open the huckerbrook surface lift this year? Without a carpet, rope tow style lift and nearly flat run where do the beginners go? You can't throw tourists, kids and beginners down brookside, too fast too steep...
For the haters, I post to ask you all to look at the mountain you love like me and brainstorm how we get better.

 

[snoseek]

So Cannon lovers....did you notice we have no beginner terrain open and no plan to open the huckerbrook surface lift this year? Without a carpet, rope tow style lift and nearly flat run where do the beginners go? You can't throw tourists, kids and beginners down brookside, too fast too steep...
For the haters, I post to ask you all to look at the mountain you love like me and brainstorm how we get better.

Run the tram and make snow like last year and I'm good.

 

[KustyTheKlown]

lol, thanks for the invite

I have no personal beef. I just don’t like lodges full of bags everywhere.

 

[thetrailboss]

So Cannon lovers....did you notice we have no beginner terrain open and no plan to open the huckerbrook surface lift this year? Without a carpet, rope tow style lift and nearly flat run where do the beginners go? You can't throw tourists, kids and beginners down brookside, too fast too steep...
For the haters, I post to ask you all to look at the mountain you love like me and brainstorm how we get better.

That's a legitimate concern.

 

[thetrailboss]

Happy new year cannon skiers, I'm so sorry my grumpy posts about cannon sparked such angst. I really just want to go in the lodge and leave my bag.....the rest, I'm good, lets go skiing.

No worries at all. You are of course entitled to your opinion. Just beware of Mr. Threecy and his vendetta.

As to the boot issue, pre-COVID I would be COMPLETELY with you. As someone who grew up in Vermont, booting up in the lodge was the norm. We ALWAYS dropped the boot bags and skis at the car drop, parked, and booted up in the lodge. I never had anything "disappear" from my boot bag. I have had poles and skis "take a ride" but later show back up at the lodge. So I started locking things.

Out west, with the exception of Snowbird Creekside, Deer Valley Snow Park, and Alta, almost everywhere else was "boot up at your car." I remember my first day out west at Homewood in California starting to walk towards the lodge and my sister-in-law stopping me to say that the car was the lodge. Alta, or to be exact it's "restaurant tenants", began kicking bags out of the lodges in 2017 or so. The Albion folks were particularly nasty about it. They ultimately left after a couple years but the policy remains. Snowbird also began kicking bags out in about 2018. When Alterra bought DV they made it next to impossible to stash bags for free in the Snow Park Lodge. It used to be pretty easy to tuck things away on the side of the locker area.

COVID killed using the lodge in this fashion. Initially, I was hesitant because it was just engrained in me to go to the lodge. But now I ALWAYS use my car. My stuff is safe, it usually is not frigid out west, I usually get a good parking spot, and can bring what I need. I also spend less $$$ in the lodge because I am just not in there. It is amazing how quickly it changed for me and how it is now second-nature. We're talking about 25+ years of doing it the old way.

But I get it--if you are used to booting up in a warm lodge at a table and ending your day there instead of on your tailgate then it is a big change.

 

[raisingarizona]

If I’m a paying customer buying lunch in a lodge and I can’t sit down because of campers and bags and gear “claiming” space I see that as a problem.

I think that’s pretty fair and easy to understand.

Everything is changing these days. There’s over 8 billion people on the planet. That has an impact unfortunately. Our actions affect others and I don’t understand how that’s so hard for others to figure out.

 

[thetrailboss]

If I’m a paying customer buying lunch in a lodge and I can’t sit down because of campers and bags and gear “claiming” space I see that as a problem.

That's exactly the argument and the idea. That said, see my comment above. Now I just don't go into the lodge except for the bathrooms, so I don't buy a coffee or food at all. The idea can have its downside.

I think that in the past there were areas where folks kept their bags--on the floor away from tables, etc. The big problem that occasionally happens and I often saw it on race days were folks taking a whole table and setting up crock pots and camping out while folks could not find a seat to buy food.

 

[Harvey]

I really like booting up in the lodge. At Gore, I'm always early, I always boot up in the same spot, and my buddies are there too. It's a social thing, and allows me to see who is skiing that day. There is plenty of space to keep boot bags, and eat. (I don't eat at the base, usually upper mountain which is really spacious.)

I missed all that during covid. Booting up in the car is more cramped, and to start out warm, I run the car, which feels like a waste.

Plattekill or McCauley it's like your home. No pressure at all. Everyone there appreciates a calm experience and sharing is natural. Hell you know almost everyone, and even if you don't know them, you know you share something special.

The big mountains are truly awesome to ski, but much of the rest of the experience sucks compared to the smaller hills I ski, IMO. Competition for snow, bag space, eating space, lift lines. If I want that vibe I might as well stay at work and get paid for it.

I guess that's the advantage of being old. 1000 feet is plenty.

 

[Abubob]

All this over a $3 fee? Wow.

 

[djd66]

$3.00 is pretty cheap to check your bag - and have unlimited access to your bag.

 

[ceo]

OK, so this business of not allowing bag storage in the lodge and making people boot up at the car and leave their gear there is just bullshit. I did it that way a couple times in 2020-2021 when everyone required it and it sucked. Trying to get boots on in the car sucks and clomping in one's boots from the far back corner of the parking lot sucks more. Having to clomp all the way back to get or discard a layer sucks worst of all. No-bags policies are almost as customer-abusive as banning brown bag lunches.
Now that said, I'm still practicing COVID safety (because the pandemic is not fucking over, people), so I boot up and eat lunch outside and that's fine, and I'm fine with storing my gear outside, although putting my regular boots back on when they've been out in the cold all day is always a fun surprise.
Providing a place to deal with one's gear and store it is one of the main functions of a base lodge. Yes, it's annoying when people shove their stuff under tables, but that means you need to provide more cubbies. The Sugarbush Gate House lodge has the best solution I've seen, with its dedicated boot-up and gear storage room. That should be the standard.

 

[bigbob]

OK, so this business of not allowing bag storage in the lodge and making people boot up at the car and leave their gear there is just bullshit. I did it that way a couple times in 2020-2021 when everyone required it and it sucked. Trying to get boots on in the car sucks and clomping in one's boots from the far back corner of the parking lot sucks more. Having to clomp all the way back to get or discard a layer sucks worst of all. No-bags policies are almost as customer-abusive as banning brown bag lunches.
Now that said, I'm still practicing COVID safety (because the pandemic is not fucking over, people), so I boot up and eat lunch outside and that's fine, and I'm fine with storing my gear outside, although putting my regular boots back on when they've been out in the cold all day is always a fun surprise.
Providing a place to deal with one's gear and store it is one of the main functions of a base lodge. Yes, it's annoying when people shove their stuff under tables, but that means you need to provide more cubbies. The Sugarbush Gate House lodge has the best solution I've seen, with its dedicated boot-up and gear storage room. That should be the standard.

Killingtons new K 1 Lodge also has a bag storage room on the second which is the main floor. At the Bear Mnt Lodge they moved the bag storage racks to the basement hallway.

 

[Smellytele]

OK, so this business of not allowing bag storage in the lodge and making people boot up at the car and leave their gear there is just bullshit. I did it that way a couple times in 2020-2021 when everyone required it and it sucked. Trying to get boots on in the car sucks and clomping in one's boots from the far back corner of the parking lot sucks more. Having to clomp all the way back to get or discard a layer sucks worst of all. No-bags policies are almost as customer-abusive as banning brown bag lunches.
Now that said, I'm still practicing COVID safety (because the pandemic is not fucking over, people), so I boot up and eat lunch outside and that's fine, and I'm fine with storing my gear outside, although putting my regular boots back on when they've been out in the cold all day is always a fun surprise.
Providing a place to deal with one's gear and store it is one of the main functions of a base lodge. Yes, it's annoying when people shove their stuff under tables, but that means you need to provide more cubbies. The Sugarbush Gate House lodge has the best solution I've seen, with its dedicated boot-up and gear storage room. That should be the standard.

As far as brown bag lunches . Cannon banishes you to the basement. Black mtn doesn’t allow them at all and says it is because of state law. I call Bullshit on that as all others allow it. They don’t even allow it on the outside deck.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Brown Bag Lunches are bullshit. Most lodges are functioning Food and Beverage centers which are a source of revenue for the mountain. I have zero issues with not allowing brown baggers. That is absolutely something that should be done at your car or a part of the lodge that isn't essentially a restaurant or your car.

As for boot bags I'm fine with allowing it but put your shit on shelf or expect it to not be there when you get back. In PA I always boot up at the car. when I'm up north its a mixed bag. If I do finish getting ready in the lodge I always either put my bag in the bag check, or rent a locker.

 

[AdironRider]

Cannon had plenty of free cubbies/shelving pre covid. People for the most part used them and didn’t leave shit out under/on tables.

My experience with Cannon is the exact opposite, as they are the place that seems to have the most lodge campers IME. It also seems worse as the lodge at Cannon is TINY. The East Coast lodge mentality is real and ridiculous, you really should just boot up at your car.

In terms of operations, I was at Cannon yesterday. Outside of them continuing to make snow during questionable temperatures I thought it was relatively decent given the recent weather shit sandwich.

 

[BodeMiller1]

That's a question for mountain management. Not the "state".

I am not following you at all......

Again, no idea what you are talking about.

Department of Resorces. I agree, butt I'm in Concord. I just saw the Governor...

Do I ask him about Cannon, Nope.